A Message From APU President Valerie Nurr’alaaluk Davidson
My first month at APU as President has been extraordinary. I am feeling blessed to be part of the resilient, vibrant, and growing University community.
Over the past several months, we have faced challenges as a University, a state, and a global community. Our students, faculty, and staff demonstrated admirable flexibility and adaptability as we quickly transitioned to distance learning and closed the campus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am so grateful to each and every one of you for your patience and resilience during this time.
The question on everyone’s minds for the months to come has been, “What about the fall?” While we will definitely be holding classes, we are still determining what the fall semester will look like as we monitor the situation at the state and local level. Our decisions will be driven first and foremost by concern for the health and safety of our campus community. When it is safe to do so, we will do our best to return to normal — although it may be a “new normal” — and work to deliver the best academic experience we can provide.
I’m from Bethel, where we use the running river in the summer and the frozen river in the winter to navigate from one community to another. We have a saying in our family: “You don’t want to be the first person on the river when the river first freezes in the winter, and you don’t want to be the last one on the river before break up. To be safe, you want to be somewhere in the middle.” As we venture into our new post COVID-19 world, we will exercise the same caution and take extra measures to keep our campus safe. We will keep you posted as those decisions are made.
I wasn’t sure what it would be like to step into this new role at this unusual time, but my first weeks at APU have been incredible. From my first moment at APU, I have had the opportunity to observe our students, staff, and faculty at their best. I am honored to be a part of the APU community, and I look forward to getting to know you in the weeks and months to come.
